Youth team graduates at every club owe something to wise Wenger

Our man inside the game witnessed first hand the remarkable influence of Arsenal’s Frenchman.

If a week is a long time in politics, 22 years in football is an eternity. Politics may well be the reason that Arsenal will part company with Arsene Wenger at the end of this season but in an era when the average managerial tenancy is just over a year, Wenger’s run of well over a 1000 games is nothing short of remarkable.

Much has been made of Arsenal’s demise as a Premier League force under Wenger in recent years — the Gunners have not won the title since 2004 when they went through the entire season without suffering a single league defeat.